George Price was a Canadian private from Saskatchewan shot by a German sniper while inspecting a row of houses near the river that runs through the centre of town. The bullet struck him down just three minutes before an armistice was declared, effectively ending the war.

The city stands as a potent symbol of the suffering that the war bred throughout Europe, and the hope that Canadian soldiers brought with them as they liberated its residents from German forces in 1918.

Now the people of Mons are trying to preserve the memory of the Canadians who marched through the city’s streets in the final days of World War One. On Monday, top world diplomats gathered at the cemetery for a ceremony commemorating the outbreak of the war 100 years ago.